All That I'm Living For
by Unforgiven Mistress
Summary: Buffy sends Faith and Dawn to England to protect Dawn from The First Evil. Dawn runs into Hogsmeade and chaos ensues. BuffyHP crossover. Dawn Centric DawnDraco
1. You Have To Go

"Just get in the car, Dawn!" Buffy said, panic written across her face as she grasped her sisters arm tightly.

"No! I don't want to go anywhere. What happened, what did it say?" Dawn protested, attempting to free herself, but Slayer strength proved too strong. She was, of course, referring to the Harbinger that the gang had just questioned in the basement.

Buffy looked hesitant for a moment, pausing in her steps before once again dragging her sister forward. "I just need you out of Sunnydale and safe, ok? Dawn, please listen to me" Buffy said.

"I can fight!" Dawn continued to protest "I can help!"

"I know you can, but not this, I can't risk it" Buffy replied "I'm going to send Faith with you"

"Oh come on!" Dawn knew she was whining, but it seemed like the only way that she'd be able to get her way with Buffy. Suddenly Dawn put on the breaks and dug her heels in the floor, it didn't seem to phase Buffy, but she stopped anyway and looked back. "It said something about me, didn't it?" Dawn asked softly.

Buffy blinked at her and then looked down "yeah…it did" she answered "that's why I need you gone"

"The First is going to use me, isn't it?" Dawn folded her arms and looked annoyed "That's the only reason you would send me as far away as you're trying to send me."

"It's not going to use you if I can get you out of here with as little fuss as possible" Buffy said pointedly. "Please Dawn, I don't want anything to happen to you and the safest place for you is away. Giles said that he can send you to his house, it has wards."

Dawn's eyebrows shot up "Protection wards? That's powerful magic."

A small smile flitted across Buffy face and she lifted a hand to smooth Dawn's hair away from her face, fondly "You'll make a great watcher one day, but not if you're dead, now go!" she urged.

"Faith is coming with me?" Dawn asked hesitantly.

"Yes, we need her here, but you need her more and I don't trust any of the Potentials with you" Buffy sighed. "I'd send Spike…but…."

"You need him, I understand" Dawn nodded "that and the fact that he'd get all crispy if he had to go out in the sun…"

Buffy laughed slightly and sniffled "be safe?" she asked more then said and Dawn wrapped her in a hug.

"-You- be safe" she replied.

"You know, I could probably coerce Xander into going with you…" Buffy said thoughtfully and looked towards the kitchen where Xander, Willow and Andrew were talking.

"He wants to be there with you until end, Buffy" Dawn told her with a deep breath "He was there with you at the beginning, it's only fair."

"Yeah, but every time he picks up a weapon I fear for all the valuables on his left side…" Buffy mumbled "so…you'll go willingly? I don't have to have Faith frog-march you onto the plane?"

"Yes, I'll go willingly, but I wont like it" Dawn warned.

Buffy hid a smile and hugged Dawn one last time "Faith, she's ready!" she yelled into the living room. 

"Finally" Faith appeared in the doorway and leaned against the wood, lifting an elegant eyebrow "I thought I was going to have to drag her out by the hair."

Dawn shot Faith a filthy look and pursed her lips, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip. "I couldn't take you, with your slayer strength and all…" Dawn said slowly "but when you least expect it, I could set you on fire."

"Still threatening to set people on fire, Niblet?" Spike grinned from the shadows of the stairwell. "Came to wish you off" he explained.

She jumped forward and straight into his arms, hugging him tightly. She was glad that Buffy was keeping him around, Dawn had always liked him and he was good for Buffy, in her opinion. "I'll miss you" Dawn mumbled, tears forming behind her eyes. "I'll call and write." She promised.

"Didn't expect anything less" Spike nodded, his voice oddly strained and he blinked and looked away from her, pulling back to hide further in the shadows "You'll be back before you know it" he said softly "bye, Dawn."

"I'm not saying goodbye!" she yelled after him as he hurried back down the basement stairs.

After having to go through the 'we're here to see you off' procedure a couple more times, Faith finally managed to get Dawn out of the door and into the car. Once there, Dawn slumped down in her seat, turned the radio up as loud as she could stand it and looked out the window, watching her house fade into the distance.

When they reached the airport, Faith handed Dawn her ticket and seemed to be on the verge of offering some words of comfort and even though she'd never admit it, Dawn would have readily listened. But Faith just shook her head, snapped her mouth shut and smiled slightly, motioning Dawn forward. Dawn deflated slightly and shuffled forward with a bag hitched high on her shoulder.

Faith eyed Dawn warily, as though she were about to explode, then she opened her mouth again "Dawn…we'll see them all again soon" she said finally "I mean, think about it, a vacation in England, with nothing to do but sit back and not get really dead? Sounds ideal" she told the younger girl.

"I suppose" Dawn replied, pulling her hair behind her ears, her blue eyes falling towards the floor "but I'd rather be fighting…" 

Faith laughed loudly, startling Dawn. "You've got slayer blood in you, definitely" she nodded "I can see me having to stop you from fighting often" she shook her head.

"I don't need a babysitter" Dawn protested, looking offended.

"No…but you need someone to help you get into the clubs" Faith winked and handed her ticket to the person at the gate, motioning for Dawn to do the same.

Dawn smirked and then laughed "I can't believe Buffy sent me with you" she shook her head "besides, I'm 16 and that's the legal age in England."

"True…" Faith said thoughtfully. "I'm sure you could use a big mean Slayer bodyguard to beat the men off with a stick though, you grew up, definitely" Faith's eyebrows shot up and she looked Dawn over.

"Stop checking me out" Dawn rolled her eyes as the got on the plane.

"I'm not!" Faith held up her hands in protest and laughed. "You're too young for me, I'm just saying, men are going to be all over you, and I don't want to be the one that has to explain to Buffy that her sister is getting molested by English men."

Dawn giggled and found her sit, stowing her bag in the overhead compartment. "I think I can handle grabby English men," she said, sitting in her chair as Faith took the one next to her "I was trained by Buffy, after all."

"Only because you made her" Faith returned with an amused smile.

"Well, I wanted to learn how to fight, it was one of those 'you teach me or I'm going to learn about it on the streets' type deal." Dawn replied. "besides, it was a slow summer…hey Faith?" Dawn asked suddenly, cutting herself off mid-sentence.

"Yeah?" Faith asked, curiously.

"Will you continue my training?" Dawn asked; her eyes widened with innocence and Faith snorted.

"I'm not falling for that look, kid, but yeah, I don't see why not, you'll learn sometime, especially if you're going to be a watcher" Faith nodded, a look of acceptance on her face. Dawn brightened considerably, maybe her time spent in England wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Well This sucks

Thanks to my two reviewers! and Allen Pitt, I remember you, you reviewed some of my other stories, didn't you?

I realize that I forgot to add a disclaimer last chapter, my bad so here it is:

Disclaimer: I down own Buffy or Harry Potter they belong to Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling respectively.

* * *

When they got to England, Faith hailed a cab and gave him directions to Giles' house. Once inside, Dawn decided that a little exploring was in order. She dropped her bag in the middle of the foyer and looked around the living room, it was very simple and modest, all cherry wood. She past the stairs and walked into the kitchen, it was bright and sunny with white curtains over the windows and a ceiling fan. There was a breakfast nook in the corner that looked like a cozy place to spend an evening reading.

She left the kitchen and traveled her hand over the banister of the staircase; it was a dark, almost black wood. She climbed the stairs and look into the first door, it was a full bathroom, across the hall was the master bedroom which she avoided for privacy reasons. Further down the hall was a guest bedroom with a single bed and a vanity, there was a large dresser against the far wall that reminded her of the moving one from Beauty and the Beast. Across the hall was yet another guestroom, looking the same as the first one.

Dawn exited the room and turned, staring at the blank wall at the end of the hall curiously. It looked to her that there should be something there. Like another door or maybe a tapestry. She blinked at the wall for a moment, running her hands over the smooth drywall then turned and walked back down the stairs to retrieve her bag.

Faith was on the phone in the living room, presumably with Buffy or Giles so Dawn decided to go pick her room and find some of Giles' books. She grabbed the first one she could find on the nearest shelf in the living room and then entered the kitchen to curl up in the nook.

Upon opening the book, however, she realized it was entirely in German. She sighed and dropped her chin onto her knees, pulling her hair behind her ears. She was horrible with German, ancient Sumarian however; she could read without a problem. Still, she had just gotten comfortable, so she decided to give the book a go and set about translating it in her head.

Twenty minutes and a single page turn later; Faith entered the room and looked around "I talked to B, Dawn" Faith said and Dawn looked up slowly, blinking her eyes to readjust them and ever so slowly she uncurled her long legs and placed her feet on the floor.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me Dawn" she answered "I'm used to all the nicknames people give me"

"What would you prefer I call you then?" Faith asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well…I'm pretty fond of Bit," she said slowly, as her mind turned to Spike and she smiled.

"A Spike nickname?" Faith laughed "I can tell…at least he doesn't call you Fluffy like he used to call Buffy."

"He's called Buffy a lot of things, nicknames are kind of his forte" Dawn continued smiling softly. "He's called me: Niblet, Bit, Platelet, bite-size…" She laughed at the last one and closed the book. "So what did you and Buffy talk about?"

"You" Faith replied, taking a seat across from her in the nook. "I told her about you asking me to train you and she agreed that it was a good idea as long as I didn't toss you to a pack of Vamps."

"Damn, there goes my plans for tonight" Dawn replied sarcastically.

"So, I think we should go out and buy some supplies" Faith interjected "proper training clothes, some snazzy weapons" she smirked and winked at the younger girl.

"Sounds fun, I'll get my purse" Dawn grinned. Suddenly, having Faith around wasn't so bad. She could tell that the other girl was trying her hardest to get along with Dawn and make this as seamless as possible. It was hard for both of them, Dawn knew, so Dawn made it a goal to be as mature about this as she could and make things less stressful for Faith.

As they walked down the streets of Aberdeen they talked, it didn't seem as though either one meant to, it just happened while they were looking through shops. Faith would say something, Dawn would reply and eventually it turned into a conversation that continued on for the rest of the shopping trip. For the first time in 4 years, Dawn was comfortable with who Faith was, she recognized all the progress that Faith had made and she was actually proud of her.

Dawn looked down the street as Faith browsed the windows of the nearest shop and saw a set of tracks, on the other side of the track was what interested Dawn, however. There was a village, and from the village she felt magic, it felt like it was pulling at her very core.

"Dawn!" Faith yelled, tugging at the smaller girl's arm "Come on, there's a store down here that sells weapons"

"Ok" Dawn nodded, straining her eyes to see the village; it seemed to be trying to fade out of sight.

Once they got everything that they needed, they headed back to Giles' house and started to set up in the basement. Faith reinforced Dawn's tumbling technique, showed her how to fall properly without injuring herself and showed her how to turn a fall into a tumble and keep right on going.

"I want to spar with you" Dawn said, shifting her weight from foot to foot on the blue matting on the floor.

"That's not such a good idea" Faith muttered, dropping her head slightly "I'm not exactly known for self control."

"Please?" Dawn asked brightly. She wasn't willing to say that she trusted Faith quite yet, but she wanted to be able to and this was a big step toward that.

"Ok…come at me" Faith said and took a deep, steadying breath.

Faith was hesitant to even strike out at Dawn, just content to block the younger girl's offensive maneuvers. But it wasn't long before Dawn got bored with that and demanded to be hit, so that she had something to block and return with.

Slowly, Faith worked up the courage to trade blows, holding back everything she had as she did so. Dawn encouraged Faith to add more force and even managed to sneak a hit past her defenses. Faith's shoulders dropped slightly as she began to relax and then her and Dawn really began to spar, her giving instructions to the smaller girl as she got knocked on her ass for the third time.

The sun began to set and Dawn retired to her room, emptying out the contents of her bag to get to the paper that she had stored there. As she began writing a note to the Sunnydale gang, she paused, looking out the window. There it was again, only stronger, like the nighttime intensified the fact that she could feel something pulling at her.

She rose from her chair and stood in front of the window, placing her hands on the glass, her dark hair falling over her shoulders and swinging jauntily in her peripheral vision. Her hazel eyes searched the night for anything that could be calling out to her, she didn't know what she was expecting, but a large neon sign would have been nice.

She looked behind her towards the door as she heard movement and then the shower started running and Dawn made up her mind, she grabbed her phone, stuffed it in her pocket and opened the window quickly, ducking her head as though to avoid being caught. Slipping expertly out the window and hopped nimbly to the nearest tree and swung down to the ground, she didn't know where she was going, but she'd definitely know when she got there.

Dawn moved gracefully through the night, living with a Slayer and many nights of sneaking out had taught her how. She briefly thought of calling Faith and telling her about what she was feeling but it just didn't seem right, it seemed like something that Dawn had to go at alone, so she did.

However, as soon as Dawn stepped out into the middle of the street, following her gut instead of her eyes, she really did wish that she had Faith with her. A small group of newly risen fledglings surrounded her, the dirt still not quite gone from their hair. Dawn knew there was no way that she could take all of them on and still manage to live to talk about it. So, doing what she did best, she kicked the nearest one in the shin and ran as fast as she could.

She could feel them gaining on her, even if she couldn't hear them and she attempted to pick up the pace, her phone rang loudly and she fished it out of her pocket with nary a pause. "H-hel…hell…o?" she breathed ragged.

"Dawn, did you sneak out?" Faith asked, sounding amused.

"Yuh-huh" she squeaked and rounded a corner, her legs pumping furiously.

"What are you doing?" Faith asked, her amused voice fading to slight concern.

"R…run…ing…." She answered.

"Are you being chased? Yes or No, short simple" Faith said, her voice giving way to the fact that she was completely on the alert now.

"Yes" Dawn answered, feeling the strength sap from her legs in a near physical sensation.

"How many?" Faith asked.

"Four" Dawn replied.

"Did you get any?" Faith question and she could hear a door slam in the background.

"No…kick" Dawn continued to breathe raggedly "can't…run…anymore…" she wheezed as she began to slow down.

"Keep going Dawnie, I'm almost there, you use a really strong perfume" Faith laughed slightly.

"Lavender" Dawn replied, doubling over as a stitch hit her side. The stitch was a miracle in disguise as it helped her to avoid being grasped around the neck. She rolled to her feet and took off again, the adrenaline rush giving her a renewed strength.

"Dawn, are you ok?" Faith asked, "Where are you? I see some vamps but you're nowhere in sight" the phone started fuzzing in and out and Dawn shook it slightly.

"I'm on the corner…Faith? Can you hear me? I said I'm on the corner near…Faith?" She groused loudly as her phone went dead and she gripped it tightly as she skidded to a halt near a building, she threw open the door and fell inside, hoping against hope that it wasn't a public establishment.

Dawn lay on the floor for a moment, panting and coughing, trying to return her lungs to normal, unaware that she was being gawked at. She lifted herself up slightly and her legs shuddered at the thought of moving again, but still, she lifted her head up to look at her surroundings. Boy was she ever shocked at what she saw, it seemed to be a bar of some type and there was a tall man with long black hair that hung limply around his taut face. He wore a long black robe that seemed to have endless layers to it and he was gripping a twig tightly in his hand.

The woman behind the counter had frizzy, curly hair and was in the process of pouring a glass of liquor, unaware that it was spilling over as she stared at the leggy brunette that had just dropped herself through the door.

"Hi…" Dawn said, her voice holding an odd squeaking noise as she continued to breath heavily. She sat up fully and tucked her hair behind her ears, looking around nervously with just a hint of curiosity shining in her eyes. This was where she was trying to go, and she had gotten here anyway, she could feel.

The woman realized her mistake instantly and righted the bottle grabbing a towel to clean the spill, the man fired up instantly, twig still clutched in his hand as he strode forward briskly and grabbed her tightly by the arm, pulling her to her feet. "Detention!" he yelled in her face and she was slightly taken aback "No student should be out of bed, especially down here in Hogsmeade, what house are you in?" he sneered.

"Um…come again?" she asked, too frightened to pull away from him yet to confused to not make a face at him.

"Your House, silly girl" he sneered "don't play ignorant, you're probably a Hufflepuff" his nose wrinkled in distaste, Dawn was completely confused. "I suppose I'll have to take you back the castle myself."

"I'm not…" Dawn began, when she finally realized what he was talking, he thought she was a student at a school, apparently a school that was near here and apparently it was a private school.

"Silence, you're already in enough trouble, I don't need to hear excuses" he spat and dragged her towards the door.

"No, you don't understand…" Dawn said, trying to shove away from him, but his grip held like iron.

"I understand perfectly, you got caught out of bed and now you don't want to get in trouble for it" he cut her off again and pushed open the door.

"You don't want to go out there…" Dawn told him quickly, attempting to pull back away from him.

"I don't need a student telling me what to do" he narrowed his eyes "especially one who is already in enough trouble, you would be best to keep quiet Miss…" he trailed off questioningly.

"Summers, but I'm not…" Dawn huffed in annoyance as he once again interjected on her sentence.

"Enough" he said as he pulled her out into the night.

Almost immediately, the group of fledglings was upon them, there was only three, so Dawn figured that Faith must have gotten the other one. The man immediately tightened all his muscles and shoved her behind him, holding the twig aloft. Dawn shook her head back and forth quickly, the man didn't know... he was going to get killed. As the vampire lunged forward she bent over and ran forward, spearing it in the gut and taking it down to the floor. She pulled a stake from her lower back, kicked the newly risen demon in the head and staked it through the heart.

She turned quickly and started trading blows with a different vampire, she managed to get the upper hand once, but he was too strong, less strong, however, than Faith was. Just as she was about to be overtaken she heard a loud 'incendre' from her right and the vampire burst into flames and collapsed into ashes, she kicked it's ashes sullenly and she noticed the man looking around wildly, as though to find more.

Dawn panted heavily and doubled over to put her hands on her knees, looking at the man wide-eyed and shocked. His lips were pursed into a thin white line and he looked to be containing his own look of shock. They locked eyes "Who are you?" they both demanded at the same time, ready to go back on the offensive if need be.


	3. Fighting again

A/N: it was brought to my attention on another site that Giles' house was in Bath and I placed it in Aberdeen pretty near to Hogsmeade for my own purposes...so all will be explained in a couple chapters

* * *

Dawn continued breathing heavily, though this time it was from a surge of adrenaline as she gripped her stake tightly, ready to go for the knife at her calf if need be, if anything, life on the Hellmouth had taught her to be prepared for anything.

"You're not a student," the man said matter-of-factly.

"Keen observances, Jessica Fletcher" Dawn snapped, a look of full mistrust directed at the man in front of her.

"So who are you?" he asked calmly and collectedly, though she could see the underlying strain and readiness to attack, should the need arise.

"You kinda assaulted me, who the hell are you?" she retorted.

The man seemed to contemplate his answer for a moment, searching her over with narrowed eyes "I am Professor Snape, I teach at the school" he answered.

"Yeah well if you teach at the school, then why aren't you there?" Dawn asked suspiciously.

"I don't think that's any of your business" Snape replied "what's your name?"

"Dawn Summers" she replied, not relaxing in the slightest.

"Do you live in Hogsmeade, Miss Summers?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow. Dawn realized almost immediately what he was doing, Spike had done it to her years previous when he had kidnapped her to get to Buffy. He was interrogating her; well two could play at that game, she thought.

"No, do you?" she returned.

"I live at the school" he replied carefully "What are you doing in Hogsmeade so late at night?"

"Exploring" she lied, like she was really going to tell this man she was drawn to this place.

"Exploring…" he repeated slowly "Miss Summers, how exactly did you come to be in Hogsmeade?" he asked curiously.

"I was running from the group of vampires you so ungracefully dragged me into, thanks" She snapped back and narrowed her eyes, her straight brown hair swinging around her face and she flipped it over her shoulder irritably.

"Do you regularly fight vampires?" Snape asked, his eyebrows shooting up, looking faintly amused.

"Only when they attack me" Dawn returned without missing a beat.

"And why would a vampire attack you?" he continued on.

"Because I'm a tasty morsel" she retorted "are you done with the twenty questions?"

"DAWN!" she heard Faith yell and the dark haired slayer ran up and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. Dawn was surprised to find that Faith was shaking slightly and she hugged her tightly to calm her nerves "I thought you were dead somewhere, your phone just died!" Faith said, a wild look in her eyes.

"Muggles?" Snape asked himself "in Hogsmeade…?"

"Excuse me?" Dawn asked, turning her glare back to the man in black.

"Pardon me" Snape said politely and backed up a couple steps to give them their privacy, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Dawn cocked her head curiously and turned back to Faith who's jaw was shaking minutely. "I'm sorry, Faith, I have no idea what happened, really" Dawn began. She felt incredibly bad for making the Slayer worry.

"It's ok, really" Faith said "I thought it was kinda funny that you snuck out your window, without telling me, it reminded me of how I used to be" she smiled slightly. "But then I called and you were running and everything got a little less amusing, but still, I was ok with it. Once your phone died, however, I panicked, what happened?"

"I ran into this village and into one of the buildings, Grumpy McBritches over there, mistook me for a student at the local private school and gave me a detention, intent on dragging me back to the school. But he dragged me out into the group of vamps…I staked one!" Dawn said excitedly.

"What about the other two?" Faith asked, looking around warily.

"He set them on fire, he can do magic" Dawn said, pointing to Snape who looked shocked.

"Why is he holding a twig?" Faith cocked an eyebrow, taking in the dark robes and sallow skin of the man Dawn pointed to.

"It's a wand" Snape replied, looked offended.

"Oooh" Dawn said, her eyes lightening up "Wand magic! I've read about that!" a large smile broke out across her face "except I don't have one so I've only ever tried natural magic, which is less directional" Dawn frowned and turned to Faith. "See, a wand is used to channel your magical energy and force it in one direction" she explained quickly and Faith smiled tightly and placed a hand over Dawn's mouth.

"So you're witches?" Snape asked.

"No" Faith replied at the same time that Dawn replied "Kinda"

Snape blinked in confusion "You must be, there is no other way that you could get into Hogsmeade" he stated, clearly flustered and Faith smirked at him.

"Easy there, talk, dark and imposing" Faith said, holding her hands up with a small laugh "we don't live very far from here, it's kinda…that direction" Faith pointed vaguely behind her.

Snape stood there for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. A loud explosion in the not too far distance saved him, however. His eyes widened comically and he ran through the night, his robes billowing behind him. Dawn and Faith shared a look and as one, took off after him.

The scene that they both stumbled upon was one of general mayhem and chaos "Dawnie, these aren't vampires" Faith said, her eyes searching over the people expertly "they're not demons either, they're human…"

Dawn felt Faith tense beside her and automatically place a soothing hand on her arm. "What can we do?" Dawn asked, "we don't have the authority to fight humans"

Faith turned her head and grasped Dawn's hand, ready to just walk away, until a bright green light shot past her head, barely missing it because she had just turned. She heard a frenzied shout and saw the same man from before, wand raised, shouting Latin.

"Faith!" Dawn yelped and pulled the Slayer backward.

"I'm ok" Faith replied and glared at the chaos "Now, I'm pissed"

"Faith…no…" Dawn protested softly "we can't do anything"

"They're wand users right?" Faith asked, looking at her pointedly "Take away their wamds, Dawn, they're left with nothing, they'll have no choice but to stop."

"Smart…I like it" Dawn nodded.

"No…no" Faith said, looking at Dawn firmly "Buffy would kill me if I let you break up a magic fight"

"She doesn't have to know…" Dawn said coyly and before Faith could continue to protest, she leaped forward into the fight, ducking a spell.

Faith has no choice but to run after her, she had to protect the younger girl. She had actually started to like Dawn in the time that they had spent together and if anyone hurt her, they were in for a hell of a Slayer beating.

Dawn definitely inherited her sister fast reflexes, if not her ability to move gracefully when she was concentrating. If only she could have those other pesky Slayer traits such as quick healing and super strength, then she'd totally be good to go. As it was, all she had to work with was 16-½ year old strength and a year of Slayer training.

Dawn spun out of the way of a curse and kicked one of the masked men in the stomach in one fluid motion that she was extremely proud of. As she was mentally celebrating the accomplishment, however, she slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Faith saw Dawn go down, and the man that was standing over her with a wand, she also saw the fact that he was preparing to do another spell on the fallen girl. "DAWN!" Faith screamed and intuitively disarmed the man that she was grappling with before running full tilt towards the other one. She caught him around the waist and bared him to the ground, punching for all she was worth, slowly feeling what little self-control she had, slip.

Buffy had entrusted Dawn to Faith, to make sure nothing happened to her. That meant a lot to Faith seeing as how she hadn't done a lot in the past to inspire such trust and it wasn't even a day into English life and she had already gotten Dawn hurt.

A hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her up, away from the man, spinning her around. She came face to face with the dark robed man and pushed away from him with a twisted glare. After looking around and realizing that the fight was over, she rushed to Dawn and picked her up. "Come on, Dawnie, wake up…" Faith mumbled, shaking her lightly

"She's only been stunned" The man said, his voice velvety smooth, as opposed to his flustered state earlier.

Faith shot him a poisonous look, that probably would have withered away a demon, but the man seemed unfazed. "How.Do.I.Wake.Her.Up?" she asked, her voice clipped and deliberate.

"Enervate" he replied simply, pointing his wand at the teen.

Dawn began to stir and then groaned, sitting up slowly "Ow, my head" she groused "what happened?"

"Dawn!" Faith threw her arms around the girl's neck.

"Uh…Faith?" Dawn asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

Faith pulled away awkwardly, looking embarrassed "sorry…" she muttered.

"You two" Snape said pointing at the both of them and Dawn looked up at him curiously "I demand that you go willingly to the castle or you will be forced, you have been formally accused of being a spy, how do you plead?"

"What do mean, spies?" Faith spat.

"Well you didn't harm the Deatheaters, did you? You merely disarmed them, that's a little suspicious" Snape lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms, glaring.

"We don't have the authority to harm a human being" Dawn replied, standing to her feet and in front of Faith protectively "So don't you get on our case about not harming them."

"How do you plead?" Snape asked icily.

"Not guilty" Faith answered, standing to her feet as well.

"Of course you do" he sneered in response "Nymphadora, take them to the castle and then call the Minister"

The woman, Nymphadora, had vibrant pink hair and was currently making a face at Snape's back. Dawn hid a giggle behind her hand as the woman walked towards them. "Technically he doesn't have the authority to order me around, but in times like these… it's best if you just come along and tell the truth" she said, grabbing both women by the arms and walking them forward.


	4. Interrogation

A/N: I know my story is missing a lot and I'm sorry, this is my first attempt at a crossover fic and I haven't watched my Buffy DVD's for a very long time. I remember a lot of it though, it's just some of the minor details like Giles' living in Bath, that escapes me. So, I hope you forgive me for all the mistakes I've made :)

* * *

Dawn was starting to feel nervous as they walked down a beaten path towards their destination. All she had wanted to do was find something that was pulling at her, she hadn't expected this, or anything like this at all. Magic users with wands, spies, fighting…and now they were being accused of spying and were being lead to a castle for questioning. It all seemed kinda medieval and totally her luck.

Faith turned her head to Dawn and smiled slightly "You never could stay out of trouble" she told the girl "I remember when I first came to Sunnydale, you were always getting kidnapped."

"It's what I do" Dawn replied "I get kidnapped, Buffy saves me and then defeats the big bad, I'm a crucial part in the defeat" she laughed. "See, if I never got kidnapped, Buffy would never have had the chance to slay."

"Ah…I see…" Faith hid a smile and looked away "So…this is pretty much standard for you then?"

"You're not being kidnapped" Nymphadora interjected "we just need to make sure that you're not spies of you-know-who"

"No" Dawn answered.

"Well we just can't take your word for it" the pinked hair woman responded looking slightly perturbed.

"No, I mean I don't know who" Dawn clarified.

Nymphadora shot her an incredulous look "He who must not be named" she said with an expectant look on her face, but one look at Dawn told her that the name hadn't rung any bells either.

"A demon?" Dawn asked "There's a lot of demons that predate written text, so they don't have names…actually, I think Angel told Buffy a story once about an old demon that died when her real name was spoken…" she trailed off thoughtfully.

"Dawn, focus" Faith said, bringing the girls attention around to the subject.

"Right…you think we're spying for a demon?" the absurdity of the statement alone caused Dawn to giggle, but it was the blank look from Nymphadora that set her off into full-blown laughter.

"Excuse her, she doesn't get out much" Faith grumbled and shot Dawn a pointed look. "Look, we're not spying for some demon, we only just got into Aberdeen this morning. We're here on vacation and Dawn snuck out and got attacked and ran into the village." Faith said.

Nymphadora held her hands up and shook them "Don't tell me, I don't want to hear any of it, tell the minister" she said firmly and nodded forward.

Faith and Dawn both turned their heads and dropped their jaws; Nymphadora paused to let them gap for a moment before pushing them forward curiously. Dawn couldn't stop staring at the castle, and yes it was actually a real live castle and it was gigantic, not to mention completely beautiful. Faith was similarly stunned and shared a trepidatious look with Dawn.

When they entered the castle, the halls were chilled and drafty, it didn't help matters that it was gone midnight and the only light was from candles that didn't seem to melt. They were up a flight of stairs and Dawn couldn't help but gasp and cling tightly to the banister as the staircase started moving. Faith, however, balanced herself and went on the alert, things moving on their own accord was never a good sign.

They were led to a stone gargoyle and Nymphadora whispered something close to the thing's ear, causing it to spring to life and move aside. Dawn yelped and raised her hands defensively, Faith made a move to stand in front of Dawn, but realized that she was still being held by the arm and sighed.

As they began to climb the stairs, Dawn's nervousness grew into full-blown panic, what if they didn't believe them? What if they thought they were spies and tossed them into jail? Well, it'd be safer than getting bled by The First, that's for sure.

Nymphadora released Dawn's arm to knock on the door and Dawn considered running but the urge was quelled by a firm look from Nymphadora. "I haven't bound you, because I don't think you're a threat, if you run, I will catch you and then I will stun you until it is time for your questioning."

Dawn stood stock-still, head bowed, feeling scolded, she wanted to appear as non-threatening as possible and damn if the young woman with pink hair wasn't scary. The door opened and Nymphadora led them inside. The room, itself, was amazing, with tiny trinkets that popped and blew smoke and spun around and fizzed, the walls were covered with books and above the books were pictures. To Dawn's utter amazement, the people in the pictures were bustling around, leaving their frames and staring curiously at the three women who had just walked through the door.

Dawn had learned early in life to not be surprised at what life could come up with, because it was always something different and if you weren't surprised, you were better equip to fight it. Of course, she didn't fight because Buffy refused to allow her too. But that had all changed in the past year, her sister had accepted her as a fighter. If it hadn't been for The First wanting to bled her dry, then Dawn would have been home right now, preparing for the final battle and not here, being accused of treason.

"Sit down and don't move" Nymphadora commanded, pointing towards two chairs and jarring Dawn from her thoughts. Faith looked ready to give some snarky comment, but she remembered how brutal the law could be when defied and so she took her seat and quietly told Dawn to do the same when it seemed that she was going to refuse.

Dawn took a deep steadying breath to calm her trembling nerves and looked around with wide, scared eyes. She didn't want to be accused of anything, the only thing she had ever done wrong in her life was steal a couple things, but that had only be a cry for attention. Treason was something far worse and definitely something Dawn would never do, working with the enemy was a big no-no in the Slayer family, unless said enemy was reforming and was helping the Slayer. Dawn smirked slightly as she thought of Spike, what she wouldn't give for his comforting presence right now.

"Professor Dumbledore" Nymphadora called out in the empty room ""Professor Snape asked me to bring some people to your office as they are being accused of being spies for…him…and they were in Hogsmeade, this is the closest place to take them" she said. "If you want to start the questioning, I'll call the Minister."

There was no answer from the room, but that didn't seem to faze the older woman as she walked over to the fire and grabbed a hand full of powder from her pocket "Minister Scrimgeour's office" she yelled and tossed the powder in. A green fire sprang up and Nymphadora stuck her head in, causing Dawn's eyes to go wide for a moment, Faith watched her curiously with her head cocked to the side.

"I've never seen that happen before" Faith commented casually.

"Yes, quite extraordinary the things wizards come up with to make up for a lack of a telephone" an old wizened voiced came from the shadows. Dawn spun her head around to stare at an old man with long silver hair, a long silver beard and half moon glasses, a pointed hat covering the top of his head.

"I…well…um…" Dawn started breathing heavily and her voice started to squeak, as it always did when she was in a panic. Suddenly there was a noise; sounding suspiciously like 'fwooosh' and a tall man with a mane of silverish red hair stepped from the fire, looking regal and elegant.

"Are these the spies, Albus?" the man asked haughtily, sniffing in disdain.

"They are accused, yes" the man, who Dawn assumed was Professor Dumbledore, answered.

The Minister scoffed something unintelligible and then started to circle the two women, staring critically at them. Dawn shifted uncomfortably and Faith kept her head held high, a blank look in her eyes.

"What were you two doing in Hogsmeade so late at night?" he finally asked.

Dawn opened her mouth to answer him and was shocked when she started babbling at a rapid pace, her words rushing together and making no sense at all. The Minister held up his hand to start over and softened his look a little. "Sorry…" she muttered.

"Start from the beginning, slowly" he said firmly, glaring pointedly at her.

Dawn took a deep breath and released it cautiously "Me and Faith just arrived in Aberdeen this morning" she explained "we're staying at a friends house for awhile on vacation. I left the house earlier in the night for a walk and I got attacked by a group of newly risen vampires. I ran and ended up in the village, I ran into the nearest building which happened to be a bar and that's when one of the Professors here mistook me for a student."

"You're not a student?" The Minster asked sharply.

"No sir, as I said, we're here on vacation." Dawn answered calmly while Faith stared at her proudly.

"Where are you from then Miss…" he trailed off, realizing that he didn't know her name.

"Summers, Dawn Summers. I'm from Sunnydale, California" she replied, he nodded and motioned for her to continue. "As I said, a professor here…Snape I believe, mistook me for a student and gave me a detention, walking me out of the building where we were attacked by the same vampires that had chased me into the village. We fought them off and he questioned me."

"You fought vampires?" The Minister's eyebrow shot up in surprise.

"Yes, sir" Dawn answered "Faith found me in the village and the professor said something about muggles and asked us if we were witches."

"Are you?" the minister interrupted.

"Not…exactly" Dawn shook her head "it's complicated…"

"Bore me" he retorted, not looking amused.

"I'm afraid that I can't, sir" Dawn said, hanging her head "You see, telling you would put me in the danger that I came here to escape from." He regarded her suspiciously but told her to continue with her story "After we answered him there was a loud explosion type noise and he ran off. Me and Faith followed him out of curiosity and a desire to protect and when we saw the scene that had unfolded we were ready to turn and leave."

"You told Severus that you didn't have the authority to harm a human" Nymphadora interjected "what is that supposed to mean?"

"Dawn isn't bound by that Law" Faith spoke quietly for the first time "she just likes to follow it."

"Well it's a good law to follow!" Dawn replied stubbornly "why fight a human that wouldn't be able to fight me back, when I can just fight a vampire and not worry, there's definitely no shortage of them."

The Minister donned a look of confusion "you regularly fight vampires?" he asked.

"Yes" Faith answered

The Minister scoffed "who do you think you are? The Slayer?" he asked, looking disdainful.

"Yes" Faith answered, in the same tone.

The Minister gapped at her "but…but" he opened and closed his mouth and then shook his head "a lot of this just made sense, you cannot be a slayer though" he turned to look at Dawn "so why do you fight vampires?"

"Slayer's sister" Dawn said sheepishly.

"How do we know that you're not an evil Slayer?" the Minister turned to Faith and glared firmly.

Faith shook her head from side to side with her mouth slightly hanging open "I fight the forces of Evil" Faith answered "it's in the job description. 'One girl…one of the girls in all the world, a chosen one, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires to stop the spread of their evil…'"

"One of the girls?" The Minister scoffed incredulously "there can only be one Slayer, apparently you are not she" he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yes she is!" Dawn interjected heatedly "My sister was the original Slayer but then she died and was brought back to life by one of her friends, then another slayer was called, that was Kendra. Then Kendra was killed by Drusilla and Faith was called, you can look it up if you have access to the Watcher's Council."

The Minister stared at her indignantly for a moment. "Miss Summers, you should keep in mind that you are under interrogation."

"And you-" Dawn's retort was cut off by a sharp kick from Faith and she settled back in her chair with a scowl.

"Very well, Miss Summers, if you don't mind I would like to administer a truth serum to see if you really are telling the truth" the Minister told her.

"Do what you like" Dawn replied sullenly "I've got nothing to hi…." She cut herself off before jumping out of her chair and halfway across the room. Nymphadora sprang after her and grabbed her tightly by the arm. "You can't!" Dawn shook her head side to side wildly "if you ask me the wrong question you'll put everyone in this room in danger."

"Is that so Miss Summers?" the Minister raised an eyebrow "and why is that?"

"Because, whoever knows about it, puts themselves in danger" Dawn said evenly.

"I think it's best if I do the questioning" Dumbledore spoke "pardon me Rufus but you do tend to get off track and if there is a secret that is this girl's own that has nothing to do with Voldemort, it is not our right to reveal it."

"Who?" Dawn asked, her fearful expression falling to confusion.

"Oh don't play stupid" the Minister snapped "everyone knows about Voldemort, just because you are trying to convince us that you are not his spies doesn't mean you have to pretend to not know who he is."

"But…I don't know who he is…" Dawn said slowly, her brow furrowed together and then turned to Nymphadora for an explanation.

"You-Know-Who" Nymphadora replied.

"No, I just said I didn't know who" Dawn sighed in exasperation.

"No, I meant He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" Nymphadora looked annoyed.

"But…if he shouldn't be named, then why are those two tossing around his name?" All the fear had left Dawn now as she felt a strong confusion well up, none of this made any sense to her at all.

"It's not that he shouldn't be named" the older woman explained "it's just that most people are too afraid to mention his name"

Dawn nodded her understanding and moved back to her seat, an untrusting look on her face "I just want to go home" she said softly and she didn't mean back to Giles' either. She wanted to be back in Sunnydale with her sister and the rest of the Scoobies, she wanted to sit in the basement and hold long conversations with Spike, she wanted to cook up weird concoctions in her kitchen when everyone was out patrolling, she wanted the comfort of knowing that she would never be accused of being against the side of light.

A sudden fear gripped Dawn and tears started to stream down her face while Faith, the Minister and Nymphadora watched helplessly. Dumbledore just stared at her calmly, as though he had expected it all along.

"I didn't want any of this to happen, I'm sorry for sneaking out of the house but I was drawn to the village and I wanted to know why" the truth spilled out like a fountain. "And then I was attacked and I got scared and then with the other attack, I didn't think about the repercussions, I just threw myself into the fight because I'm so used to it back home." She explained "I just want to go home, I'm sorry." She repeated.


	5. Observance pt1

A/N: This chapter is kind of short because it was such a bitch to get out lol.

Allen Pitt: you sure do ask a lot of question huh? LOL All will be answered in due time. As for the evil slayer bit. The Slayer's power is rooted in both Darkness and Light they are aware of this and therefore know that the Slayer can be either very good or very evil.

Silent Me: Thanks for all your postiveness!

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Everything fell silent in the room after Dawn's declaration; no one could think of anything to say as the she composed herself, looking sheepish at her outburst. Then, finally, one of the portraits spoke "You know, in my day, the Ministry didn't go accusing young women all willy nilly, we had a basis and we had evidence, you've scared the poor girl senseless, you should apologize."

The Minister looked taken aback for a moment and shot the portrait a firm look. "I'll have you know, Madame, that these are dangerous times and no one can be trusted."

"If you please, Minister, The Slayer and her kin aren't a part of the Wizarding world" another portrait spoke up. Dawn furrowed her brow and looked around at all the portraits that were nodding in agreement and giving her and Faith encouraging looks, then she turned to look at Dumbledore, whose eyes were sparkling madly and he was attempting to hide a smile.

"Yeah, the girl said so herself that she didn't know the name 'Voldemort', and that was a genuine look of confusion!" another portrait added.

"You would know" another sneered.

"Shut up, Phineas"

Dawn felt a swell of amusement that she quickly squashed as she watched the portraits argue with the Minister and the Minister grow more flustered each second.

"Fine!" the Minister growled "But I want an eye kept on them!"

"As you wish, Rufus" Albus nodded "I'm sure we can make arrangement to have them looked after."

Dawn's attention was elsewhere at the moment, however, the mention of the name Voldemort had brought out her inner language geek and she recognized the different Latin words used to make the name. "Flight away from death" she said to herself curiously.

"What did you just say?" the Minister asked, looking at her sharply.

"I…" Dawn blinked at him for a moment "I said, 'Flight away from Death', it's what Voldemort means, translated from Latin…"

"Aw man!" Faith groused and flopped backward against the back of her chair "is he immortal? He's not a vampire is he?"

"That'd be too easy and you know it" Dawn admonished with a small smile at Faith's petulant behavior.

"I can still hope" Faith grumbled.

"He is human, for the most part" Dumbledore answered.

"Great!" Faith grinned "then we have no business getting involved, I knew we came to England for a reason, they don't need us here" she told Dawn.

"Yes, well…I still want an eye on them, Nymphadora, if you'd be so kind" the Minister looked over to the pink haired woman and then nodded to the two brunettes.

"Yes, sir" she nodded.

"Professor, if you have a place here where you could keep them? I very much doubt they would like to spend their time in Azkaban," he said, giving Dumbledore a look that suggested he didn't really have a choice.

"Yes, I suppose they could stay here" Dumbledore said thoughtfully and Dawn could have sworn she saw the cogs turning in his head "I'll arrange a room for them, and for Nymphadora, as well."

The Minister nodded firmly and turned swiftly, tossing powder into the fire and disappearing. Dawn blinked owlishly for a moment before turning to look at the aging man that was smiling jovially at them.

"Now then, you two don't appear to be completely out of the clear as of yet, you will remain in the castle until further notice and you will be under strict watch from both Nymphadora and myself. Please do keep in mind that there is nothing that goes on inside this castle that I do not know about…You may enter, Severus." He called to his closed door.

The door opened and the same black haired man from the village strode into the room, pausing with a sneer when he saw the two women. "What are they doing here?" he asked sourly.

"The Minister has insisted that they be kept here for observance" Dumbledore responded.

"Oh, what an intelligent Minister we have" Snape sneered "to keep two accused spies in a castle filled with students." Dawn glared at him with her arms folded but said nothing as he turned to look at her "She looks like nothing more than a student herself, how old are you, girl?" he demanded.

"Old enough to know better than to answer inane questions" she retorted.

The scowl on the man's face deepened "You do well to hold your tongue" he snapped at her "one wrong move…" he trailed off in a threatening manner.

"And what will happen?" she raised an eyebrow "I'll get scolded? I'm shaking" her lips pursed tightly and she stared at him challengingly.

"Drop it, Dawnie" Faith sighed "the sooner we can convince these people we're not spying, the sooner we can just get out of here and go home."

"I think I'd much rather be bled dry by Evil incarnate" Dawn groused sullenly and everything fell silent. It never occurred to Dawn that her statement was out of the ordinary, it seemed perfectly normal to her, having just come from a Hellmouth.

Suddenly, Snape let out a sharp gasp and turned to Dumbledore "If you'll excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, there is somewhere that I need to be" he sent the older professor a significant look and turned on his heel, striding out of the room with his cloak billowing behind him.

Faith muttered something unintelligible to Dawn, but the look on her face was enough to cause Dawn to snort in response. Faith sent her a smile and they both turned to Dumbledore when he cleared he throat rather pointedly.

"Yes, well, seeing as how it's late, Nymphadora, would you mind showing these ladies to your rooms?" he asked "I'm sure you remember the way"

"Yes, Professor" Nymphadora responded, pushing herself off the wall and motioning for the two girls to stand. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as they left the office and then she paused and looked at both brunette firmly. "I don't think you are spies" she told them "but if you prove me wrong, there will be repercussions" her eyes held a sort of danger to them that Dawn couldn't help but nod her head. "Please call me Tonks, I really do hate the name Nymphadora" she wrinkled her nose and motioned for the two girls to follow her.

"I really didn't know that all this would happen by running into the village" Dawn said, hanging her head in sorrow.

"It wasn't so much the fact that you were in the village, as that you got involved in the Deatheater fight" Tonks told her gently. Looking at the girl right now, Tonks had little doubt that she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and she was as confused as ever, but these were dangerous times and everyone needed to on their guard.

Dawn didn't realize how truly tired she was, after the events of the night had unfolded, it had left her both emotionally and physically drained, she was sure her legs were going to be beyond sore in the morning. As Tonks led them through a hall after going up a flight of stairs, that didn't move this time, Dawn's mind began to wander. She needed to get a message to Buffy to let her know what had happened, but this place didn't exactly seem like it would have a phone stored someone and her phone had died completely, it wouldn't even turn on, let alone get a signal.

She heaved a sigh and frowned, Buffy would flip her lid once she found out, but there was so much going on back in Sunnydale, Dawn almost didn't want to worry her, yet she knew that she had to contact Buffy either way, because they were expecting it.

"We're here" Tonks said, stopping in front of a portrait of a girl with a loose outfit on, she was giving a forest behind her a shifty look as though no one would notice if she sneaked into it.

"Password" the girl asked, not taking her eyes off the forest.

"Dog Star" Tonks replied in nary a whisper, her face suddenly drawn and tight.

Much to Dawn's surprise, the portrait swung open to reveal a large living room type space. The surprise disappeared quickly, however, as both she and Faith were ushered through the opening and into the room. There were two couches, a fireplace, a crimson rug a couple tables and chairs and four doors leading to somewhere else entirely.

"I don't think I got your names…" Tonks said, looking between the two girls.

"I'm Dawn Summers" Dawn said quietly, it seemed she had done nothing but give her name out that day.

"Faith" the dark haired Slayer replied "just Faith"

Tonks nodded in response and pointed to the nearest door. "Bathroom's right there" she told them and then went around pointing to each room "that's my room, Dawn you can have the room next to it and Faith you can take the room across the hall."

Dawn could only nod in response, to tired to really do anything else. She entered the room designated to her, took note of the bed and fell on it, not bothering to strip out of her clothes or even her shoes for that matter. Her last thought, before falling asleep, was that she really wished she could get a hold of Buffy in the morning, half wishing that her sister would storm the castle and demand her immediate release.

When she woke up the next morning, she hadn't been wrong, her legs hurt like hell. Forget about protesting her every movement, they simply refused to move. Dawn groaned and rolled over, stretching her legs out and rubbing at the muscles in her calves.

There was a slight tap on her door and then it opened, allowing Faith's head to poke around the corner of it "You ok in there, D?" Faith asked eyebrow raised.

"Peachy with a side of keen" Dawn replied through gritted teeth as she attempted to work out a particularly stubborn knot.

Faith smirked knowingly at her and let herself into the room, dropping down on the end of Dawn's bed. "Bet you wish that you hadn't run so much last night" Faith said in an almost sing-song voice.

"Damn you and your Slayer-ness" Dawn narrowed her eyes, not really angry and she was sure Faith knew that.

Faith tutted and shook her head playfully "such language, what would Buffy say?"

"Buffy's not here" Dawn said waspishly. Yes, she was just a tad bit bitter that her sister had sent her off to Europe where she was later accused of treason and held against her will, it kind of irked her.

"Ok…" Faith said slowly, holding up her hands in surrender "you planning on getting out of bed?"

"No" Dawn said sullenly and attempted to shift her legs without too much pain.

"It'll help work out the kinks, trust me" Faith told her and pulled the younger girl out of bed with the help of her Slayer strength. She set Dawn on her feet and Dawn let out a whimper of protest and started hobbling about the room.

"I really wish I had different clothes" Dawn sighed after a moment's lull in conversation. Faith just snorted in response and passed Dawn on her way out of the room.


	6. Observance pt2

A/N: Could it actually be…? Yes! It is the answers to the many asked questions!…I'm crap at exposition though…so…enjoy!

Special thanks to: Allen Pitt, for putting so much thought in his reviews!  
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Dawn finally managed to make her way out slowly into the sitting area and collapsed on the nearest couch, a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face. Both Faith and Tonks were already sitting there and there was a large stack of pancakes on a plate in the middle of the coffee table. Dawn blinked at it for a moment, wondering how it got there and then shook her head; she really didn't care to know.

"Um…Tonks…" Dawn said hesitantly. "I need to contact my sister…" she told the woman when her head shot up to look at her.

Tonks did her best to not regard the girl suspiciously but she couldn't help the words that escaped "What for?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well, for one because she sent me to England to keep me out of danger and I really don't think it worked, secondly, she's a Slayer and a very protective one at that, if I don't tell her what's happened and where I am, she'll get worried and she's in the middle of a battle right now she doesn't need to be anymore worried!" her voice went shrill at the end of this statement and she took a huge breath upon realizing that she hadn't through the entire tirade.

Tonks looked a little taken aback and Faith had the decency to at least try and hide her amusement. "I'm sorry," Tonks said after a moment, shaking her head "I can't allow you to make contact with anyone outside of Hogwarts walls."

"What's a Hogwarts?" Faith asked, furrowing her brow and lifting a pancake off the stack.

"It's a lily" Dawn said absently, her mind racing. If she couldn't get a hold of Buffy…well…Buffy probably wouldn't notice right away, she had her plate pretty full back in Sunnydale.

"It's the name of the school" Tonks clarified "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

Faith nearly choked on her pancake "They have schools for that?" she asked.

"That doesn't surprise me" Dawn sighed and off Faith's look she continued on "that this school is one of them, I mean, if you hadn't noticed, talking paintings aren't exactly normal and that old man did say this was the 'Wizarding World'." She pointed out.

"Yeah, I remember that part" Faith said, clearly annoyed. "I just figured this was a regular school with added magical perks"

"Well, to the kids that go here, this is normal" Tonks shrugged, "if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to write the head of my department a letter, help yourself to the pancakes and do NOT leave this room." She ordered firmly before excusing herself to her room.

Dawn and Faith looked at each other helplessly for a moment before Dawn curled up on the end of her couch and Faith grabbed another pancake. "So…" Faith said, trying to break the awkward silence between them, her and Dawn had never done well with the silence thing.

"You know, I find it kinda weird that Giles always said he had a house in Bath and we ended up in Aberdeen…" Dawn said suddenly.

"He told me about it before we left, actually" Faith replied thoughtfully "He said that while his house in Bath was a wonderful place to be, it didn't have wards on it like his house in Aberdeen, he said he knew you'd be safe here."

"Well he was obviously mistaken" Dawn grumbled.

"I don't think he accounted for the fact that he lived next door to the Wizarding World…" Faith laughed slightly and grabbed another pancake. "You should try one of these, they're really good" she said around a mouthful.

Dawn stared at the plate and then shook her head "I'm not hungry" she replied.

"You've got to eat something, you can't just starve yourself until they let us go" Faith pointed out.

"I don't eat well when I'm worried about being in danger" Dawn told her, looking around the room for something to put her attention on.

"No wonder you're so skinny" Faith muttered.

Everything fell to silence again as Faith continued eating and Dawn let her gaze wander. There was a portrait in the room, and it was staring back at her just as curiously. It wasn't talking like the others had been, but maybe it had nothing to say, it must be very boring to be a picture. She eyed the bookcase in the room and then turned her head away from it to gaze at Faith who looked lost in thought, curled up in a chair.

"I have a question" Dawn said, startling Faith out of her reverie.

"Shoot" Faith said, after making eye contact with the younger girl.

"How were you able to get on the plane?" Dawn frowned in confusion "I mean, I know you were helping us in Sunnydale, but you did break out of prison to do it."

"Yeah" Faith nodded and took a breath "after I came to Sunnydale, I had a long talk with Willow, I was planning on going back to jail after the whole battle was over. But then Buffy asked me to take care of you and Willow told me that there was a way that she could hack into the FBI files and clear my record."

Dawn gapped at her "Willow cleared your record?" she asked incredulously.

Faith nodded silently "I don't know how she did it, personally I think there was a little more than old school hacking going on" she said.

"Yeah…" Dawn replied slowly, she wasn't sure how she felt about this new development. Sure, her and Faith were getting along fine, but the knowledge that Faith had a clear record, after everything she'd done, nothing to weigh on her conscience…it just didn't set with Dawn.

"Willow said she could put everything back the way it was once we're back in Sunnydale if that's what I wanted" Faith said quietly "and I think I might just go finish doing my time."

Dawn nodded quietly and stood up to grab a book from the bookcase she'd seen earlier, maybe reading was a better option than questioning Faith. She let out a hiss as the muscles in her legs tightened as her full weight was placed on them, she'd almost forgotten that her legs hurt, but there they were, to remind her. She hobbled over to the case and searched the titles for something interesting. 'Charms and spells any witch should know.', 'Care of Magical Creatures, volume 1', 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.', 'The true, the fake and the truly weird: a book of prophecies.', 'History of magic: the Goblin Rebellion.", 'Everything you ever wanted to know about the Dark Arts (and some you didn't).', 'Practical defensive magic and it's uses against the Dark Arts.'

All sorts of topics on the shelf and not a single book had she already read; though it was nice to find a book in simple English. She grabbed one of them and limped back over to the couch, dropping down roughly and opening the book.

What seemed like only minutes, but in reality was quite longer; Dawn looked up from her book. She was nearing the end of it and her eyes had gone beyond fuzzy. She blinked to readjust her vision and noticed that Faith was asleep, curled up in the chair, her face tilted towards the fire. Tonks was pacing, as though waiting for something and Dawn watched her go back and forth.

Dawn set her book down and stretched, her legs were still sore, but not as painful as they had been this morning, she knew it was going to be a couple days before the stiffness went away entirely, but she'd have stronger legs for it.

Tonks sighed softly and leaned against the windowsill on her elbows, staring out into the sunlight. Dawn could tell that she was restless so she decided to talk to the woman. "So…what do you do?" Dawn asked casually.

Tonks jumped, as though she hadn't realized that Dawn was still there; and then turned to face her. "What do you mean?".

"What's your profession? Why were -you- there at the fight last night?" Dawn asked.

"I'm a dark wizard catcher," Tonks said, moving to sit beside Dawn on the couch and Dawn moved her legs to allow it.

"That's interesting" Dawn nodded "I'd be a student, but my school was evacuated" she smiled slightly "good for me though, I suppose."

"Why was your school evacuated?" Tonks frowned.

"Oh same old stuff…" Dawn sighed, not wanting to delve to deep into her life back home.

"You don't trust me" Tonks said, it was a mere statement, not even a question.

"I don't know you, and you -are- holding me captive" Dawn pointed out "in my experience, things that hold me captive aren't really good things."

"Get held captive a lot?" Tonks asked curiously "I heard Faith make a mention of you having a tendency to get kidnapped."

"Yeah, my sister's a slayer, so all the big bad's captured me in hopes of getting to her, but she'd just beat them up and take me back" Dawn laughed fondly "it was mostly Spike that kidnapped me, anyway, I think he kinda enjoyed my company."

"Spike? You mean William the Bloody?" Tonks asked, sounding shocked and appalled.

"Yeah, you know him?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"I know of him," Tonks said "we did this whole study on the Scourge of Europe in my training" she explained.

Dawn smiled at the thought "Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and Spike" she said, her face holding a nostalgic quality to it. "Spike used to tell me stories, Buffy would kill him if she ever found out."

"Wait…you actually talk to him?" Tonks asked, her eyebrows raised so high that they nearly got lost in her hairline.

"Yeah, me and him are really close" Dawn nodded as though it weren't out of the ordinary. At Tonks horrified look, she quickly realized her mistake "oh, no!" she protested "he's good now, he helps Buffy fight demons, though…that's because he's in love with her…but…" she realized she had started to babble and quickly closed her mouth tightly.

"Curious" Tonks replied, though she still looked wary "can you come over to the window for a moment?" she asked.

"What?" Dawn asked and looked over to the window, where there was sunlight pouring in. "Oh…" she chuckled and Tonks looked at her like she was mad. "You think I'm a vampire" she smiled again and stood up, walking over to the window and standing directly in the middle of the sunbeam. "Not a vampire, I just know a couple."

Tonks blinked at her "You don't lead a normal life do you?" she finally asked.

"And you do?" Dawn countered.

"Touché" Tonks nodded.

Dawn's face grew somber as she moved back to her seat and stared at Tonks "this is bad, isn't it?" she asked quietly "the whole being accused thing."

"Well, you weren't taken to Azkaban, so it's not as bad as it could have been" Tonks replied, suddenly feeling a bit maternal, the young girl before her looked so fragile and upset that it was hard not to feel bad for her.

Dawn thought it over for a moment and then bit her lip "would…we need a lawyer?" she asked.

"A what?" Tonks frowned.

"Someone to defend us legally" she clarified.

"You might, do you know any of them that deal in magical business?" Tonks raised an eyebrow.

"Yes" Dawn nodded, hanging her head slightly and looking down at her hands. "Before Buffy caught the second Harbinger, Angel had come to give Buffy a medallion, she mentioned something about 'Scrubbing Bubbles' I have no idea, but he also told her that he had taken over Wolfram and Hart, a legal agency that deals specifically with otherworldly things."

"Harbinger?" Tonks asked.

"It doesn't matter" Dawn sighed "that's not the point, the point is that I have legal representation if I need it, and Angel can be very convincing when he needs to be."

Tonks nodded "very well, though I don't suppose you'll need it if you remain out of trouble while you're under observation."

"How likely is that?" Dawn scoffed, mostly to herself, as Faith began to wake up.


	7. Observation and Interrogation

A/N: Thanks for the all the reviews I got. Alan Pitt, you are ever inquisitive, but I guess that's good. We'll just have to see where this story goes and see if any of those things happen ;)

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The next three days were probably the most boring in Dawn's life, if it were possible to die of boredom, she would have been buried a couple hours ago. As it was, she hung limply off the couch, her legs tossed over the back of it and her head just barely brushing against the floor. The blood was rushing to her head, but she didn't mind, she was actually quite comfortable. She was just finishing up 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' and she wasn't sure she could stand to get up and grab another book from the shelf, she'd done nothing but read for the past four days, because she had nothing better to do.

Her stomach gave off a loud rumble and she rubbed it absently, she'd been eating sporadically in her time spent in the confines of the room, she just couldn't seem to keep focused on food and only when Faith had forced her, did she actually sit down and eat. Faith seemed to do nothing but eat, saying that she had a lot of pent up slayer energy and it was making her both hungry and horny, something that Dawn didn't really need to know. It didn't surprise Dawn much, though, that Faith spent a lot of time in her room then.

Tonks was sending owls out and receiving them almost as quickly. It had amused Dawn to no end that they sent mail by way of owl, but it did seem quicker than regular post. At this particular moment, however, Tonks was reading a letter she had just received with a grave, ashen face.

"There's been more attacks," she said finally, looking over to Dawn, who was a little red in the face from the blood rushing to her head. For reasons that Tonks couldn't quite explain, she had come to trust Dawn and in turn for her trust, had been regaled with tales from Sunnydale, from the amusing stories of Spike to the not so amusing stories of potential Slayers. Yet, Tonks still felt like Dawn was holding something back, like there was something she didn't want to say because she didn't trust her that much.

Dawn's feet slipped off the back of the couch and she squealed as she crumbled to a heap at the base of the couch. Her head popped up and she looked at Tonks "again? That's horrible." Dawn said, her face completely sincere.

Once Tonks had told her about the attacks and how frequently they had been happening since Voldemort had been outed the previous year, the young girls eyes had filled with tears and she muttered something about it not being fair to lose one's family to darkness. It was then that Tonks knew that she wasn't a spy for Voldemort and probably never would be.

"I want to be out there" Tonks said softly, looking out the window "I want to help stop this."

"I know that feeling" Dawn nodded and climbed back onto the couched, perched up on her knees with her elbows resting against the back so she could stare at Tonks, who was sitting a table in front of the window, a letter open on the table in front of her. "I always tried to help my sister out, but I ended up being more a hindrance really…you see, until recently I didn't even know how to fight. A couple years ago, I accidentally invited a vampire into the house…I was so scared that I screamed and ran up the stairs" she looked disgusted with herself and pursed her lips "brave, huh?"

"Dawn, a couple years ago you were 14" Tonks pointed out "it's a natural reaction."

"Oh please, Buffy's been fighting vampires since she was 15 and that was definitely not the first time I'd seen a vamp." She rolled her eyes at herself "I was hiding behind Anya trying to act all big and bad and then suddenly an invite popped out of my mouth and I took off running. Buffy was so pissed at me."

"I remember when I first wanted to be an Auror, I barely made it through training because I'm such a klutz, I'll manage to trip over anything." Tonks smiled thinly "When we went to go get Harry from his Aunt and Uncle's house last year, I tripped and broke a couple dishes in their kitchen, stealthy, huh?"

"We're pretty pitiful" Dawn laughed "sitting here, telling tales of all our mishaps, I don't even want to get into the bigger mistakes that I've made in my life" she said, her face turning stormy as her thoughts turned to that fateful night on the tower.

"Understandable" Tonks nodded, looking back down to the letter on the table.

Dawn fell back into a silence that was only broken by Faith coming out of her room, looking decidedly more relaxed. Dawn snickered and covered her mouth with her hand to hide the noise but Faith heard her anyway and caught her eye, tipping her a wink. She flushed brightly and started giggling, she didn't know why she found it so funny, but it felt good to laugh, especially considering that she hadn't barely cracked a smile in the past four days.

Faith started pacing restlessly, casing furtive glances at the window. Dawn knew that look on her face, it was the same face Buffy made every time she was dying for a slay. She understood the Slayer craving now, she hadn't before, but it made more sense. The Slayer was a natural born hunter and when deprived of the hunt, they became restless and just a little more violent. It wasn't a very good idea to keep Faith locked up without a release for very long.

Dawn would never fully understand the longing for a slay that Buffy had every once in a great while, when she was deprived of a good kill, but she did understand the restlessness of being caged. Even if she wasn't doing the whole pacing thing or the whole…disappearing into her room for a long while thing.

It only took Dawn a moment to notice the owl knocking against the window, but Faith was so lost in her little world that she hadn't seen it until Tonks let it in and it hooted loudly, startling the brunette slayer into a fighting stance. Faith absently reached for a weapon that she didn't have, all their weapons had been taken away and disposed of when they had been locked in the room, much to Faith's chagrin.

Dawn tapped her feet back and forth, waiting for Tonks to read the letter and give some sort of news, yet again. Anxious was better than bored any day, but not by much.

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak to the both of you, I am told it's rather urgent" Tonks said and stood to her feet quickly.

"That's possibly the best thing I've heard in the past week" Dawn said and stood as well.

"Yeah, I'm seriously going spar, I need out of this room." Faith nodded and followed Tonks towards the entrance.

They exited the room as one and Tonks looked around the halls "Everyone is in class, we'll have to hurry so that no one spots you, can't have THAT floating around the school" Tonks muttered.

"What, that you lot keep prisoners?" Dawn asked, feeling slightly annoyed.

Tonks shot her a look but didn't respond as they kept walking. Faith was darting her gaze around, taking in every dark corner as though just hoping there was something evil lurking in the depths of the shadows. Dawn stopped in front of a picture of a woman who was whispering to another person in the picture, casting her a look. Doing something that she hadn't felt the need to do in a very long time, Dawn sent the woman a very immature look and hurried to catch up with the others, ignoring the indignant look she'd left on the woman's face.

When they reached Dumbledore's office, past the creepy gargoyle, Tonks held up her hand. "He wants to see you separately" she told them and motioned for Faith to follow her in.

Dawn looked a little put out for a moment before leaning back against the wall and sighing, she guessed that she'd just have to wait. Dumbledore said he knew everything that goes on in the castle, she doubted she'd be able to get out before she was caught. She needed have worried about being left alone though because Tonks exited a second later and stood guard near her.

Everything was silent; there was no chatter between the two of them, no stories, just a tense silence that continued to grow the longer Faith was in Dumbledore's office. Dawn started fidgeting nervously, toying with the hem of her shirt. At least Tonks had been decent enough to provide them with other clothing than the one's that that they had arrived in. Dawn was now in a pink camisole with a lace border around the top and a pair of tight dark blue jeans, her customary black boots on her feet.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Faith exited the office, looking dazed and pale. Dawn was instantly by her side "what happened?" she demanded. Faith just shook her head, looking sick. Fear started curling in the depth of her stomach as she gripped the slayer's arm. "Faith, please, what happened?"

"Questions, lots of questions, couldn't lie" Faith mumbled "I felt so horrible."

Dawn stilled completely, there were a couple things she'd rather lie about than say, but before she could beg off the same treatment, she was ushered into Dumbledore's office. Much to her displeasure, Professor Snape was there, glaring at her like she'd stolen something.

"Miss Summer's, please, this is all approved by the Ministry" Dumbledore said looking somber and motioning for her to sit in a chair.

"Wha…I don't understand" Dawn shook her head, shakily taking a seat.

"Professor Snape will administer Veritaserum, it is a truth potion, meaning you will not be able to lie to me when I ask you a question" Dumbledore said, authority in his voice "do you understand this?"

"Yes, sir" she nodded.

"Will you willingly allow Professor Snape to administer the potion?" he asked.

She swallowed heavily and started trembling violently "yes…sir…" she said, her voice wavering, she truly had never been more frightened, except for when Glory had been chasing her.

"Look up Miss Summers and open your mouth" Snape ordered "swallow as quickly as possible, the taste is rather unpleasant."

Dawn did as instructed and grimaced when the sickly liquid was poured down the back of her throat, she swallowed quickly and gagged slightly. She didn't feel any different but decided to voice her concern. "Will I have control over my mind when you ask questions?" seeing the trail of crazy people that Glory had left behind had left Dawn with a fear of never being in control over her mind. Especially after she had seen Tara.

"You will, you just will not be able to lie" Dumbledore responded "shall we begin"

"No" Dawn answered even though she had meant to say 'yes'

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled in amusement "curious that Miss Faith said the very same thing."

"I'm very nervous, I'm sorry" Dawn said quietly.

"No matter, Miss Summers" Dumbledore replied "best get this over with as quickly as possible. What is your full name?"

"Dawn Marie Summers" she answered, this was easy so far.

"What is your sister's name?" Dumbledore asked.

"Buffy Ann Summers" Dawn replied, taking a deep steadying breath.

"Is she the current Slayer?" he asked.

"No, she's an active Slayer" Dawn replied.

"Would you care to explain?" Dumbledore asked.

"Buffy died…a couple times actually. The first time she died, Kendra was called, but she didn't last very long, then Faith was called. So technically, while Buffy is still alive and is active in her Slayer duties, Faith is the current Slayer." She told him.

"Do you know who Voldemort is?"

"No"

"Do you know what Dark Magic is?"

A shudder went through Dawn and her chest tightened "yes…" she said in nothing above a whisper.

"Do you know a Dark Magic user?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

"Yes" Dawn nodded "but she's trying to kick the habit, she's a wicca you see, and it consumes more than wand magic does, it's horrible to watch, like an addiction" her voice grew quieter until it was only a weak, wavering note.

"Do you know any people that have delved in the Dark?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes…everyone has something dark about them, Professor, it's what they do to make up for it that counts." Dawn replied, holding her chin up firmly. She felt Professor Snape stiffen beside her and then look at her oddly, she could see it out of the side of her gaze, but she refused to look at him.

"Is there darkness in you, Miss Summers?"

"Yes" Dawn's gaze dropped to her hands "I'm like a lighting rod for pain, people get hurt when they're around me for too long."

"Are you dangerous?"

"I can be"

"Voldemort is planning something, do you know what it is?"

"No…I already told you I didn't know him" Dawn looked confused.

"Nobody really knows anyone, do they? Not unless they're close" Dumbledore replied with a smile.

"You're right" Dawn nodded slowly as she thought this over.

"Do you know what The Key is, Miss Summers?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

Dawn's head shot up so fast that she was surprised it didn't snap off and go flying across the room "What Key?" she asked back, amazed that she could.

"I'm told it's a mystical ball of green energy" Dumbledore replied "do you know what it is?"

"Y-Yes…" Her trembling restarted tenfold.

"Do you know where this Key is?"

"Y…y…yes" she was shaking so hard now that she could hardly breath, she was likely to work herself into a nice panic.

"Can you tell me where it is?" Dumbledore asked.

"No" Dawn shook her head wildly from side to side "not allowed to, evil wants it, evil takes it, tears down dimensional borders, can't have that, people die"

"Professor…" Snape said, actually sounding concerned "I…I think she's going into shock…"

"Miss Summers" Dumbledore said firmly "where is the key?"

Dawn screwed her eyes shut tight and felt her body fighting back against the potion trying to make her tell the truth, she couldn't allow herself to tell him, she couldn't. She threw her head back and screamed painfully as she finally managed to break free of the potion. She slumped forward, panting heavily and then jumped out of her chair, backing away from the old man, tears in her eyes.

"Please…please" Dawn begged, though she wasn't quite sure what she was begging for. "I can't tell you, please stop asking…how do you know about The Key?"

"Voldemort wants it" Dumbledore replied calmly, his eyes searching the young girl before him carefully. "He knows that it is in Europe and he plans to take it for himself, he plans to make himself an army."

"No…No…No" Dawn moaned lowly, backing up until her back was pressed firmly against the door. "He can't have it."

"I'm glad we're on the same page, Miss Summers, I was thinking the same thing" Dumbledore told her, a kind look on his face as he attempted to sooth her.

"This can't be happening, oh God" Dawn mumbled, running a hand over her face as panic laced through her heart and settled in the pit of her stomach. "This isn't real…"

"I assure, Miss Summers, this is very real" Snape snapped, glaring at her again "get your head together, little girl and tell the Headmaster what he needs to know before Voldemort sets this world in ruins and it'll all be on your head."

Dawn moaned lowly again, her mind spinning. The tower, the knife, the blood, the swan dive, the energy, the body…the tears poured down her face and she only vaguely heard Dumbledore reprimand Snape before she threw the door open and ran as fast as she could.


End file.
